Thursday, April 4, 2013

Tila Garden Pendant with Rizo Beads

In preparation for my classes at the San Diego Bead Society later this month, I re-illustrated most of the Tila Garden Pendant pattern to reflect my most recent illustration style. I think it's easier to understand, though I'm going to see how well it works in the class before updating the version that's on my website. While I was illustrating it, I decided that it needed a few more step-by-step photos, so I wove a new Tila Garden Pendant for myself with a simple variation...

Another Rizo-Bead Substitution

Yep, yet again, I substituted the fringe drops for rizo beads, which is becoming a recurring theme on my bead tray nowadays; I previously swapped out other beads for rizo beads in my Double Bubble Jacks, Tila Droplet, and Sparkling Compass designs.

"Burst" Variations

The rizo beads wiggle around more in this pendant compared the original version, but it also makes the pendant more tactile and it gives the flowers a burst effect. Plus I'm loving the colors! I've gotten several positive comments about it from the ladies in my local bead circle, so I'm thinking of offering it as a kit option for this and my Bead & Button classes. What do you think?

The same burst effect can be achieved with Swarovski briolette pendant crystals, as seen in this pendant that I wove last year:

More Matching Earrings

Continuing with my goal of designing matching earrings for my pendants, I put together a pair to match this pendant too. It actually took a pretty big design-concept-paradigm-shift on my part to come up with this earring design, even though the end result looks so similar to the flowers on the pendant. They're quick to weave together too.

The class that I'm teaching at the San Diego Bead Society will take place on April 21 starting at 10 AM. There's still one space left, so contact the bead society at sdbeadsociety@gmail.com for more information about how to register. I'm also teaching this project at Bead & Button, and there's still space left in the session on Sunday, June 9, from 9 AM - noon.